Fire Safety Essentials: What Specifications Should a Fire Bucket Have for Electrical Panel Rooms?

Dear Seniors,

Please share specifications for a fire bucket for the electrical panel room, solvent yard, etc.

Regards,
Abhay

I too don't know about this and am waiting for the reply. Currently, we are maintaining a steel bucket of 5kg filled with normal sand (river sand) near the electrical panel room and DG's. When it comes to the solvent yard, I have no experience in this industry, so I'm unable to comment. However, if you go through the MSDS of the solvents, it would specify the type of sand that needs to be used. For our chemicals, we are using sawdust. For the fire sand bucket, please follow the link where you would get some more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_sand_bucket.

Thanks and regards.

Fire Safety in Solvent Yards

I do not have exposure to chemical plants. However, I believe that for solvent yards, fire buckets must be filled with inert materials such as sand, clay, sawdust, stone dust, etc.

I am attaching a file based on Factories Rules for your reference. Furthermore, you may refer to the Factories Rules of your state for specific requirements. I hope to receive more clarifications on this point from other members.

@kvsundaram, nice explanation, sir. Thanks for the same.

Regards,
Dipil Kumar V

Dear Mr. Dipil/Kvsundaram,

Thanks. If anybody has information about the quality/specifications for sand, is a bucket required to have mesh at the bottom? How to prevent rainwater/fog from entering it, etc., please share so that it will be beneficial for all of us.

Regards,
Abhay

Dear Abhay,

I find the posting interesting. There is an applicable Indian Standard Specification #2546 (1974). There may be some amendments too. You need a solution. A safetyman is supposed to help you with an immediate solution for problems at hand and not direct you to standards, rules, and regulations.

Fire Bucket Specifications

Here it is: Fire buckets made of heavy gauge G.I., 9/10 liters capacity with a round bottom hanging type, duly painted with white enamel inside and red enamel outside of the bucket, and letters FIRE in 75mm type stamped on the body of the bucket. This satisfies the ISI requirement.

Buckets must have suitable lids to keep closed and thereby avoid dirt and dust accumulation. This will also prevent men from throwing waste into these buckets. By having a round bottom, we ensure that the buckets will not be placed on the floor, and ignorant employees will not use these buckets for other purposes, including taking them to toilets.

Have the buckets hanging on a suitable stand or use brackets to fix the buckets on the wall. The bottom of the bucket should not be more than a meter from the ground for easy handling.

Maintenance Tips

You can keep any number of buckets at a location. However, keep one bucket at the end empty. Frequently pour the sand from the second bucket into the empty one and continue emptying it until the one at the other end is empty. Next time, repeat the exercise from the other end. This is to ensure that caking is avoided, and the sand is kept free-flowing all the time. Often moisture in the atmosphere causes the caking effect, and hence this exercise is advised. If you can otherwise ensure that the sand is free-flowing, you need not resort to this exercise.

Regards,
Kesava Pillaui

Dear Abhay,

Nicely replied by Keshav. Please check IS 2546 - Revised 2001. Also attached is a drawing of the same.

3. SHAPE AND ESSENTIAL DIMENSIONS

3.1 The shape and the essential dimensions of the fire bucket shall conform to those shown in Fig. 1.

4. MANUFACTURE

4.1 Body — The body shall be in two halves which shall be joined together by butt welding. The top rim of the body shall be wired and uniformly beaded. The beading shall be fully formed without gaps. The thickness of the body shall be 1 mm, and the diameter of the beading wire 3.55 mm.

4.2 Bottom — The bottom shall be dished and joined to the body by butt welding so that there is no raw edge or crevice on the inside of the bucket. The thickness of the bottom sheet shall be 1 mm.

4.3 Ears — The ears shall be made of mild steel sheet and shall be fitted to the body at the top by means of welding with the flat head on the side. The thickness of the sheet for ears shall be 2.8 mm.

4.4 Top Handle — The top handle shall be a mild steel rod of 10 mm in diameter with its ends bent up as shown in Fig. 1.

4.5 Bottom Handle — The bottom handle shall be a mild steel rod of 10 mm in diameter and shall be joined to the bottom by welding as shown in Fig. 1. The grip shall have no sharp edges.

4.6 General — All gas welds shall be free from porosity, blow holes, and brittleness.

5. FINISH

5.1 All parts of the bucket shall be finished smooth, and sharp edges rounded off.

5.2 The bucket shall be galvanized after manufacture as per IS: 2629-1966*. The thickness of the coating of zinc conforming to IS: 13229-1991 Specification for zinc for galvanizing on any portion shall be not less than 0.06 g/cm² (both sides inclusive). Alternatively, it may also be galvanized with a lead-tin alloy to a thickness of not less than 0.012 mm.

5.3 The bucket shall, in addition to galvanizing, be painted with two coats of white paint on the inside and two coats of red paint on the outside (see also 2.4). The handles and the ears shall be painted with two coats of black paint.

5.3.1 The word ‘FIRE’ shall be painted in black centrally on the outside; its letters shall be 75 mm high and approximately 12 mm thick.

Find the attached Specification of Bucket as per IS. Hope it clears your doubt.

Best Regards

Dear Kesava sir , neeraj ji , dipil and all ,
Thanks for valuable post .
but one question is still pending : specification of sand ( micron size etc .)??
Regards,
Abhay

To my understanding and knowledge, there is no mention of sand size in OISD/NFPA/TAC. However, the sand should be fine and meshed—it must not contain any gravel. The sand placed should always be dry. As mentioned by Mr. Keshav, a lid may be provided on the sand bucket. Others may shed light on this if mentioned in any other national/international standards.

Best Regards